Welcome to ADI: A Blog from Tag

A Quick Word Before We Start...

I'll be honest.

I was starting to take it personally.

Cad-Capture launched ADI.

Then there was another LinkedIn post about ADI.

Lots of impressive technology. Plenty of talk about AI, engineering knowledge and digital transformation.

And not a single mention of me.

Me.

The engineering information expert. The asset-tracking specialist. The guy whose entire job is helping people find things.

Fortunately, the marketing team eventually came to their senses.

Because if anyone should explain ADI, it should probably be the character whose name is Tag.

So here I am.

Officially tagged in.

And before somebody creates another LinkedIn post without me, let me explain what ADI is, why it matters, and how it can turn engineering information from a giant treasure hunt into something that actually works for you.

Let's Talk About Maps

Imagine I hand you a paper map.

It's big. It's detailed. It's full of useful information.

But there's one problem.

You have no idea where you are.

You know the destination. You know the map contains the information you need.

You just don't know which road to take.

That's surprisingly similar to the problem many engineering organizations face today.

They have plenty of information.

Drawings. Documents. Equipment data. Maintenance records. Project information. Business systems.

The information is there.

The challenge is finding it, understanding what it relates to, and connecting it to the right context.

And that's where things get interesting.

Engineering Doesn't Have a Data Problem. It Has a Treasure-Hunt Problem.

Engineering organizations aren't short of information.

They're surrounded by it.

The problem is that much of that information lives in different places, different formats and different systems.

An equipment tag might appear on an engineering drawing.

The information relating to that asset might sit somewhere else.

The document you need could be buried in a repository.

And the person who knows exactly where everything is?

They might have been working there for 25 years.

That's not a particularly scalable information strategy.

And it's certainly not ideal if you want to make that information useful to AI.

Because AI doesn't just need more information.

It needs context.

That's Why We Built ADI

So, what exactly is ADI?

The simplest way I can explain it is this:

ADI is the sat nav for engineering knowledge.

You already have the map.

ADI helps you understand where everything is, how it connects, and where you need to go next.

Asset Data Intelligence automatically extracts engineering information from drawings and documents, connects it with the relevant business information, and creates the context needed to make that information more useful.

And this is where I start to get excited.

Here's Where Things Start Getting a Little Magical

Engineering drawings and documents contain a huge amount of information.

Equipment tags are one of the most important pieces.

With ADI, those tags can be identified automatically and associated with the appropriate OpenText xECM Business Workspace.

So instead of simply seeing:

P-1042

on a drawing, you can connect that tag to the wider information surrounding the asset.

The drawing becomes more than a drawing.

It becomes a doorway into the information behind it.

And that's a much more useful place to start.

The Best Part? It Doesn't Stop There.

Engineering information isn't static.

Assets change.

Drawings change.

Documents are updated.

Projects move forward.

Information gets added.

ADI is designed to keep those relationships up to date as the underlying information changes.

Which means you're not just creating connections once and hoping they remain useful forever.

You're creating a more connected information environment that can evolve with the organization.

And honestly, I appreciate that.

I don't like losing track of things.

I've Always Felt Sorry for Engineering Drawings

They get blamed for a lot.

"The information is in the drawing."

"It should be easy to find."

"Someone must know which document it's in."

But a drawing was never really designed to be an interactive knowledge hub.

Until now.

With ADI HotSpots, engineering drawings can become interactive gateways to the information behind them.

Click on an asset.

Follow the connection.

Access the relevant information.

Suddenly, that static drawing becomes part of a much bigger information network.

Now that's more like it.

Why AI Absolutely Loves This

Here's the really important bit.

Everyone is talking about AI.

But AI is only as useful as the information and context it can work with.

Engineering organizations already have enormous amounts of valuable knowledge.

The problem is that much of it is buried inside unstructured engineering content - particularly drawings and documents.

ADI helps bridge that gap.

By connecting structured business information with unstructured engineering knowledge, ADI creates a context layer for AI.

So AI isn't just given more data.

It has a better understanding of what that data means, what it relates to and where it came from.

And that matters.

Because the future of AI in engineering isn't simply about asking better questions.

It's about giving AI the right context to answer them.

So Why Am I Excited?

I've spent years helping people find things.

A drawing.

An asset.

A document.

A piece of information hiding somewhere it shouldn't be.

Traditionally, finding that information has meant searching, clicking, checking, asking around and occasionally opening approximately 47 PDFs.

I've seen things.

But ADI changes the experience.

Yesterday, engineering teams had a paper map.

Today, they have a sat nav.

And eventually?

Maybe you won't need to search at all.

Because instead of spending your time looking for information, the information can start finding its way to you.

I'm Tag.

And apparently, I'm officially part of the ADI conversation now.

Welcome to the next generation of engineering knowledge.

Welcome to ADI.